Golf club



May l, 1923.

v T. J. HOLMESv GOLF CLUB Filed Aug 8. 1921 Patented May l, 1923.

ETE

stares Parana' intesa TOMAS HOLMES, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GOLF CLUB.

Application iled August 8, 1921. Serial No. 490,40.

vidual construction. It may safely be saidthat no two of the ordinary clubs act in practice in exactly the same way even though produced -by the same maker and from what was considered to be the same weight and kind of head. It is also true that a club which fully meets the requirements ofone player will be unsuitable in the handsof another although'theoretically correct for him as to its length and weight. Furthermore, since the club maker produces his worksfrom his own views as to what the club should be, it is only by rare' chance that any club substantially fully ineets the individual needs of a particular player who may purchase it, A

It is also pointed out that a players club requirements as'to weight, etc., vary from `time to time as .his skill increases or new appreciations are had ofthe action of his implements in use. The purchase of a new club to overcome such faults of the club or to overcome faults which have crept into the players action is a purely speculative venture and is objectionable for many other reasons as well.

The chief objects of the present improvements are to provide a golf club which may be of the usual type and which may readily lbe made to conform accurately to a particular players requirements as to weight of the club and also as to its balance, as the term is understood in golf, both initially by the club maker and subsequently from time to time by the player as occasion may arise, and to provide for such advantages by simple means which are in themselves unobjeetionable from the standpoint of appearance or use of the club and which are secure against the eifects of misdirected strokes andthe weather.

Other objects and advantages will appearhereinafter.

' hole 10 are mounted a plurality In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a top view ofthe head of agolf club of the driver type with these improvements shown by dotted lines therein; Fig. 2 is a side -view of the head of Fig. 1 with a. part thereof broken away to Show the present improvements chiefly in full lines, thev outer end portions being in medial vertical section; Fig. '3 is a fragmentary front end view' Aof the head of Figs'l and 2; Fig. 4 is a face view of a key or double-ended screw-driver adapted to be used with the nut of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive; Fig. 5 is a rear view of an iron club of the inashie type showing these improvements in asomewhat modified form, the tubular h'ousing for the weight or balancing members being shown inl section, the view being on the line 5 5 of Fig. 6; and F ig. 6 is a fragmentary front end view of the club of Fig.,5.

According to Figs. 1,12 and 3 a relatively long hole 10 is bored from the front end 11- -of the head well into its body, as illustrated.

This hole may slant normally upward from frontto rear to provide for natural drainage should the connections be allowed to become so loose as to admit water, and also to bring the line'of the weights more in line with the shaft of the club and the avoidance thereby to sonic orti-nt ofv counteracting influences 'incident to :he swing of a club hav'- ing some iof.i tswei vl il mit of the line ofthe shaft.- The hole 101 may -wetllieabout three-v eiglitsof ai: inch in diameter'. but it maybe varied from that considerably. I

Concentric with the hole 10 is the rod 12, suitably of brass, which is pointed and threaded at its inner lend 13 and screwed tightly into the wood 'or other material of the head. Upon the rod 12 and Within the of weights,

{illers,"or balancing pieces 14, 15, 16 and 17,

" each thereof being bored so as to fit slidingly upon the rod -12 and each having an outer diameter' only slightly less than that of the .hole '10 whereby theweight material mounted on the rod 12-will fit-snugly within the hole 10 and yet be capable of removal by shaking the club or tapping it upon a hard surface.

^ Adjacent p piece 14 I provide a ller 19 of relatively soft material such as rubber or fibre adapted to be compressed to hold the 1ler pieces rmly 'in position. The hole 10 1S enlarged to the weight, filler or balazzie'ug I ilo at 20 to provide for the nut 21 which is` -threaded upon the outer and threaded end 22 of the. rod 12. The nut 21 has a slot 23 `adapted to be engaged by the key shown in Fig. 4 whereby the nut may be tightened or removed. A gasket 25 is placed between the nut 21 and the wall of the recess at the hole l0 and the enlargement 20, the gasket 25 also impinging the filler 19, the gasket 25 being adapted to exclude' moisture from the hole 10 while also, due to'the relative softness of the material, acting as a lock for the nut..

The filler pieces 14, 15, 16 and 17 are shown as of various lengths. They may all Joe relatively short as in Fig. 5 and of such number as will make their total length extend from substantially the front end of the hole 10 to its rear end at 26.

While golf clubs of the wooden 'driver type are invariably7 weighted, as by a block of metal at 27, the amount of such weight and itsposition will in no case' result in a perfectly balanced club except by purest chance. According to these improvements the weight at 27 may be somewhat reduced and additional weight may be applied by means of fillers as 14, 15, 16 and 17,which additional weight may be made exactly such as renders the club as a whole of the desired weight for the particular player for whom made. A

According to usual experience, too, the

player finds in time that his lclub is either.

too heavy or too light, and thereupon with a club having these improvements he may modify the weight by changing the character of some of the fillers as 14, V15, 16 and 17., as

from brass to aluminum or vice versa. Tt is therefore within the easy operation of the player to modify the weight of his club to his individual needs with substantial exactness.

For obtaining the correct balance of theclub the ,filler pieces as 14,15, 16 and 17 are simply adjusted with respect to each other.

vvIt is contemplated that some of theillers will vbe of relatively light metal or other material as Wood, fibre, or preferably, aluminum, and that at least one of them will be of relatively heavy metal such as iron or brass (preferably anoncorrosive metal). Let us assume that the fillers 14 and '16 areof brass and that the fillers 15 and 17 are of aluminum, and that such an arrangement results in a substantially perfect balancingof the club. This matter of the -balance. is so delicate that if the relatively large weight 16 werel interchanged with the smaller weight 14 the balance would be materially affected.

In somecases it is necessary to place the lgreater weight near the inner end of the hole v10, aadin' others the greater weight is rei as fall within quired near the middlev or at the other end. Tn practice it Will be found that clubs which are as nearly alike as Kthe club makers art practically permits require radically different arrangements of the balancing members to free the club of its objectionable tendencies when in use.

Turning now to Figs. 5 and 6 it is only necessary to point out that the ,club' may be originally forged with .a longitudinal projection 30 on it-s rear surface which is shown asextending parallel with the sole of the club. This rib 30 is then bored withv a hole 31 and filler pieces 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 are shown as fitting snugly within the hole 31 and extending substantially from end to end thereof. The outer end of the hole 31 is tapped and a` screw plug 38 having' a screwdriver slot 39 closes the opening and holds the filler pieces in place. A soft filler 40` provides for a suitableholding pressure upon the other fillers. The filler pieces numbered 32 to 37 inclusive are similarly to be considered as of both relatively light and relatively heavy metal or other material, and

for purposes of description we may assume that fillers 3 2 and 35 are of brass While the others are of aluminum. The club of Figs.`

to the head,

' :An important feature of this constructiony is that the weights are concealed and protectively housed and the presence ofthe improvement is not objectionable from the standpoints of appearance and use. c-

1While I have thus illustrated and described simple. cheap and highly advantageous embodiments of these improvements as applied to -clubs vof different types, the invention is susceptible .of modification in practice, and T contemplate as being within the cope of these improvements such changes the appended claim.

A. golf club head having a materially long boring therein, arod secured to the head and positioned substantially coaxially in said boring, the free end of said rod terminating near the opening of said boring and being threaded toreceive a nut, weight material having ahole therethrough adapting it.to t slidingly on said rod and having an external dia-meter'adapting it substantially to fit the boring in the head, said weight mateto end and being mounted on said rod, and a nut on the outer end portion of said'rod.

@nomas if, notaire. v i, 

